Impact Player rule is killing all-rounders: Jonty Rhodes

Lucknow Super Giants’ fielding coach Jonty Rhodes is not a fan of the Impact Player Rule, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a couple of years back in its domestic circuit and India Premier League. The implementation was first made on an experimental basis in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and was later introduced in the IPL. It eventually limited the role of all-rounders, which brought criticism from captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as well.

Rhodes echoed the emotion, mentioning that all-rounders’ growth is being hampered because of the rule He stated that the Impact Player makes a massive difference in a match as more high-scoring games are being played, which makes the product more exciting and watchable, however, it comes at a cost.

“I am siding myself with the right use of the Impact player rule because players are almost playing with freedom so I’m just worried about the role of an all-rounder because it’s a simple role but plays a vital job in cricket and you need that for test cricket 50 over and all other T20s as well,” Rhodes was quoted as saying by News18.

“So I am not a massive fan of that impact player and maybe I’m just not smart enough to work out when the right strategy to use the player is. But again, it’s not my decision when to send a player in, so I’m not losing sleep about it. I’m always up for change and to try things to adapt the game, and make it more exciting and enjoyable. And I think it certainly did that, big scores were put on the board in last season. But I’m still really concerned about the role of the all-rounder, the importance of the role of the all-rounder in T20 cricket, and the Impact Player rule is certainly killing it,” he added.